Gender-Role Attitudes 97Both women and men can be victims of sex
discrimination. In an archival analysis of
new hires in U.S. law firms during the 1990s,
Gorman (2005) found that job criteria that
were more masculine (e.g., ambitious, inde-
pendent, logical) were associated with hir-
ing fewer women, and job criteria that were
more feminine (e.g., cooperative, friendly,
verbally oriented) were associated with hir-
ing fewer men. In a study of letters of rec-
ommendation for junior faculty positions,
females were described as more communal
and males were described as more agentic,
controlling for number of years in graduate
school, number of publications, number of
honors, and number of postdoctoral years
(Madera, Hebl, & Martin, 2009). When
blind to sex, six psychology professors rated
applicants with communal characteristics
as less hirable, which accounted for part
of why females were viewed as less hirable
than males.
One of the most widely publicized
cases of sex discrimination resulted from
differential evaluation of men and women
in the same job. The case is noteworthy
because social psychological testimony on
gender-role stereotyping played an instru-
mental role in the Supreme Court decision.
The case involved Ann Hopkins, who was
denied partnership at Price Waterhouse,
one of the top eight accounting firms in the
United States. Hopkins maintained she was
denied partnership because of her sex. Price
Waterhouse maintained that she had some
“interpersonal skills” difficulties: “Accord-
ing to some evaluators, this ‘lady partner
candidate’ was ‘macho,’ she ‘overcompen-
sated’ for being a woman, and she needed
a ‘course at charm school.’ A sympathetic
colleague advised that Hopkins would im-
prove her chances if she would ‘walk more
femininely, wear make-up, have her hair■ The best way to change a specific aspect of people’s
gender-role stereotypes is to present them with an
example of someone who disconfirms the stereotype
on one dimension but otherwise fits the stereotype.
This example will be more compelling than some-
one who departs from the stereotype on a lot of
dimensions.■ It is difficult to determine whether our stereotypes of
women and men are accurate because of the shifting
standard. The shifting standard represents the idea that
we view the exact same behavior differently when dis-
played by a female and a male.Behavioral Component: Sex Discrimination
In 2004, David Schroer applied for a gov-
ernment position as a terrorism special-
ist (Grossman, 2008). He was extremely
well qualified and had been involved with
counterterrorism at the Pentagon since
9/11. After receiving the job offer, he re-
vealed that he had been cross-dressing pri-
vately for years and had decided to have
sex-reassignment surgery so that he could
live fully as a female. The job offer was
rescinded. A lawsuit ensued. Although
the government tried to argue that being
a transsexual raised security concerns and
that the process of sex reassignment would
make it difficult to focus on work, a federal
court ruled that Schroer was the victim of
sex stereotyping and sex discrimination.
This was a landmark ruling for transsexuals.
Discrimination is the differential treat-
ment of individuals based on their member-
ship in a category. Sex discrimination, the
subject of the case just cited, is the differen-
tial treatment of persons based on their sex.
In this case, the question the court faced was
if sex discrimination applied to transsexuals.M03_HELG0185_04_SE_C03.indd 97 6/21/11 12:22 PM